


Smell the Roses

by ameerkatofficial



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Artificial Intelligence, Last Day On Earth, Loss of Virginity, M/M, Memory Loss, Morning After, holograms, last day alive
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-31
Updated: 2021-01-31
Packaged: 2021-03-18 07:29:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29114550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ameerkatofficial/pseuds/ameerkatofficial
Summary: EMH's Mark I and II rendezvous with Starfleet on Earth, compare experiences, learn from each other, and part ways in the saddest way possible.
Relationships: EMH Mark I/EMH Mark II, EMH/EMH Mark II, The Doctor (Star Trek)/EMH Mark II
Kudos: 2





	Smell the Roses

**Author's Note:**

> Get ready for an emotional roller coaster.

So this was... _Earth_. It was funny, he was certainly developed here, but EMH had no memory of being here. His memories began on the brave little Voyager, out alone in the Delta Quadrant. The sky was so frightfully blue, but it was no competition for the ocean. The _Pacific_ is what they called it, right outside his window. Is this what his poor crew was missing, then? He could see why. It was breathtaking here. 

They gave him a hotel room, despite assuring them he wouldn't need it. He didn't need sleep, but they insisted, just for the night. After a brief tour along the boardwalk, alone with his thoughts, he returned back to his room, only to be caught by surprise by the sight of the sunset. He didn't think he'd bother watching it, but he found himself stuck to his window now, realizing how he almost missed such beauty, and thanking himself for keeping the windows open. 

_Earth._ The Homeland, the great mother of all humankind, who he was made in the image of. This is where they started, and this is what they saw every day and every night. EMH could almost feel spirituality growing in his subroutines. His _creator_ was man, but to be _man_ , a creature, created by all _this?_ Why, it almost made the hologram cry out to a god he could not be assured existed.

There was soft, constant rapping at the door as the sky slowly simmered to a violet, with a heavy ring of red sitting at the horizon. Curious, he answered the door to find a younger man who was still knocking in mid air, only for his sky-blue eyes to widen when he found the door was open. He smiled, the lips twitching nervously. "They taught me how to knock!"

EMH Mark I smiled in kind, though the expression was much more snide than the other's. "And they didn't teach you how to stop?"

EMH Mark II flushed as he realized his first was still in mid-air, and quickly pulled it down. "It is a _learning process_. In fact, they've also just learned about mobile emission," the doctor flashed a shiny, new mobile emitter before the elder. "I can come and go anywhere I please, just like you. I can even explore the universe, if I'd like!"

The elder doctor's snide grin turned gentler. "It's a vast universe out there. I'm sure you'll never grow bored of it." He stepped back into his room. "Come in, then, or if you insist on standing guard in front of my hotel room, I ask that you at least step off the threshold so that I can close the door."

The younger heeded the invitation with enthusiasm, nearly galloping into the room. His sky-blue eyes nearly doubled in size as he took it in. "They gave you a bed? Did they give me one too? I've never had a bed before!" At this, he sat himself down on said bed, promptly rumpling the sheets.

"They can teach a hologram bedside manners, but they can't teach him _regular manners,"_ EMH Mark I spun around on the other, "Would you get _off_ my bed?" 

The younger stood at attention, his silence and clenched jaw indicating that he knew he was in the wrong. " _Some doctor_. Are you not supposed to encourage _rest_ after a long day of saving _two starships?"_

"If you wanted rest, you'd be discovering the joys of your _own_ bed, now wouldn't you?" the elder closed in on the other. "Now is this a social call? Are you even capable of social calls?"

"Well, if you're _capable_ of fraternizing with other sentient humanoid lifeforms, then why can't I?" he looked down his nose to the older model. 

"Then why don't you find one?" he departed from the other, wanting to return to his cherished window instead. "Like you said, it's been a long day of saving starships. We need _rest_."

He turned around to see that the violet had already turned to a deep, rich blue. It was as deep as the ocean was during the day, casting the ocean now in inky black, reminiscent of the emptiness of space he was born into. 

The younger model took a few moments more to respond, his voice soft as he smoothly changed the subject. "You're returning to Voyager tomorrow?" he asked. The older doctor could feel him stepping closer.

"Yes. I'm sure the crew has lit themselves on fire without me at this point, so the sooner, the better. I've left them with enough copies of my subroutines to study me in every university on the continent at this point, and I hope they do." His fingertips brushed against the light, gauzy fabric of the curtain, marveling at its shimmer, its beauty. Here, on Earth, without a constant threat of losing life support from some malfunction or the other, they gave themselves a great allowance of aesthetics. The doctor appreciated that. "There's no better doctor than a well-rounded one, after all."

"As rounded as the bald-spot on your head?" the younger chuckled. The elder jumped as he realized how close the other now stood, in awe of such swift and silent steps. "I'm sure..."

"Where are you headed to then?" the elder ignored the younger's digs, wishing to keep the conversation surface-level for now. "Back to Prometheus?"

"In a few weeks, yes..." the younger spoke wistfully as he, too, found himself playing with the curtains. "Before then, I'll be refit with whatever medical breakthroughs have occurred over few weeks I was gone, my subroutines examined, for I _also_ exhibited rather unusual behaviors with our adorable little stunts back there...and then I'll likely have my memories wiped before I return to duty."

 _"Wiped?"_ EMH Mark I rose his brows sky high, "I...I'm so sorry. Is there any way you can--"

"Please, it's fine," the other chuckled. "It was a short, but brilliant existence. Honestly, I didn't expect to get this far, to do this much. And besides, I'll get to do more, see more, and maybe learn to be the hardened veteran that you are on the Voyager, doctor!" He affectionately wrapped his arm around the other's shoulder, pulling him in a tight squeeze, which forced a pained grunt from the other. He almost retaliated when the other released him from his long arm, letting it hang once again at his side as the bright flash of the horizon sank deeper and deeper, getting further consumed by the blue-black skies. "I'll get to see the universe soon. But for today, I smelled roses. They smell wonderful."

"That they do. Sweet, but not overpowering like chocolate."

" _Yes, exactly!"_ the other exclaimed. "Oh, what a sweet, delicate scent! I love it! I'd say I'll miss it, but I won't be able to miss anything from today quite soon..." The energy in his voice dropped suddenly. "It's a pity I didn't cross that last thing off my list before I start over."

"What was it?" the elder asked, picking up the energy that dropped from the other as he continued agitatedly, "I'm sure you could get room service to bring in a steak, a bottle of wine--"

 _"Sex."_ The other interrupted. His fingertip dragged down the window with the light at the horizon, quickly swallowed down by the ocean. "Never had it. Don't know if I'll even think of it next time around." 

The elder doctor's brows rose and fell, but he made no move to turn and look at the other, finding that he was suddenly incapable. He stared blankly ahead, out into the darkening world. _"Oh,"_ he replied. 

The younger returned with a deep, throaty chuckle coming from deep within his throat. "It's a shame. I've heard it's one of the most wonderful experiences for those who are inclined... _poetic_ even, to some. Doctor, I never even got to become a fan of poetry."

EMH Mark I found himself speechless. He wasn't naive, wasn't born yesterday, or six-weeks ago like this doctor was. This model was bold in some aspects, sure, but he wasn't...he _couldn't._

"Doctor...you're not asking me to..."

"Well," the younger picked up where the other trailed off, "Unfortunately, it seems my bedside manner prevents me from _asking._ But I am implying that I, _before I become reborn,_ might want to... _learn_ a thing or two from the great EMH Mark I." He caught the curious elder doctor's eye at last, and returned it with a coy flash of a grin. "I couldn't imagine how enlightening it would be to learn from your _prowess."_

_"Doctor!"_

" _What?_ What is it? Am I unattractive?" the taller pouted, "That's it, isn't it?"

"N-No, you're _objectively_ quite physically attractive, but--"

_"But, what?"_

EMH Mark I was struck dumb then as he faced the other, his lips tight as he considered his options. Tall, blond, and dainty, sure. He was just the doctor's type. But so naive, so lacking in experience and _other_ important details. 

"You don't even have genitalia!" the older model sputtered.

"And?" the younger boldly seized the other's hand, pressing his own mobile emitter the elder's palm. "You gave yourself some. Give some to me as well."

_"I haven't even been intimate with a male before!"_

The taller shrugged. "I wouldn't object to having a vulva for the night. You could give me a nice pair of breasts as well if it would make you comfortable."

"Doctor, this is _absurd!"_ the shorter one cried, stepping back from the other. "I should _not_ be having sex with you! What if it disrupts your matrix?"

The other did not step forward, but the long sigh he gave was enough to cause the holographic hairs at the back of EMH Mark I's neck to stand on end. "Doctor, please...I'm essentially dying quite soon. I would like to have this experience before I go, even if I won't remember it quite soon, just to know for now that I am capable of something so... _human."_

The elder rolled his eyes. "Please, what is it _with_ us _artificial beings_ and wanting to be more human?"

"I don't know, _Love Doctor_..." the younger purred as he stepped closer, " _You tell me_." 

EMH Mark I felt himself nearly jump out of his skin. They were toe-to-toe now, and he could hear and feel the other's artificial breath on his face. A part of him was sure he could just kick the other out here and now. But a part of him pitied the poor hologram, and another still was curious of him even, curious of those blond curls that glowed with a gilded silhouette by the growing starlight. 

_"Alright,"_ he grumbled, furiously typing in a few commands on the mobile emitter, transferring data from his own to the other's. He watched the other's eyes widen at the feeling of a sudden addition to his anatomy. His hands took to his hips, sliding down curiously.

"My, my, EMH Mark I, you're feeling _adventurous_ tonight?" 

"That's a funny way to pronounce _charitable,_ " the older model griped. He reached out to lay his hand upon the other's cheek. It was warm, like any patient of his would be, any friend or lover. But it was strange to think too deeply about what he intended to do, for they were both tools at the end of the day for the same purpose. They were two tricorders, making love. But perhaps that was self-prejudice, for wasn't it _the doctor_ who fought for his rights as a sentient being? Why can't the other be regarded as the same? They were two consenting sentient beings, about to make love...

"Besides," the elder continued, "there's no time like the present to try my hand at being... _pansexual..._ "

EMH Mark II cupped the other's hand, before letting his own slide down the length of the other's arm, catching at his shoulder. "It's a learning process..." he hummed, his hands wandering lower, down to the other hologram's hips. "So what now, _professor?"_

EMH Mark I wrinkled his nose at the title. "Well..." he sighed, readying himself for what was to come, "Now we... _kiss."_

" _Kiss,"_ the other echoed with a soft smile, "What a pleasant word."

"It can be an even more pleasant thing to do," the elder replied, finding himself speaking softly as well, his thumb tracing the taller's high cheekbones. He was attractive, especially by the dying light of the sun giving way to currents of blue, licking his curls with firelight before the stars took over in a silvery cast. He was absurd, but he was attractive, and the doctor understood too well the younger's desperation. 

And why not fulfill a dying man's wish?

The kiss was gentle, prodding, curious of how much the younger knew, and how much he could figure out. It was a soft, slow process of discovering the mechanisms behind such an act as kissing, taking a few tries before Mark II dared to reciprocate. From there, like any good teacher, Mark I slowly raised the intensity, quite agonizingly, before he dared try and slip his tongue through, received by a gentle shudder from the other. And shudders grew to voiced sighs once the elder freed the other's mouth to demonstrate what else lips can do. What else hands can do. What a healthy dose of curiosity and sadism could bring about on a poor fellow, especially coming from a physician who knew anatomy like the back of his holographic hand. 

He was handsome, _handsome!_ Lean and smooth to the touch. Even EMH Mark I grew conscious of himself then, cursing the engineer that decided to model him after a sad, beady-eyed little balding man. But Kes had told him to appreciate himself so many times before, so long ago, and that he was perfectly handsome, perfectly charming, perfectly perfect for who he was.. There were times where he wondered if she would have asked him to do this to her as well, for he surely would have without a second thought. 

But now was not time to think of his poor old friend scattered across the cosmos. For now he had another old friend beneath him, flushed like those sweet roses he had stopped to smell. By silvery moonrise, the two of them found themselves scattered across the universe as well. 

EMH Mark I left the other asleep by dawn, amused that a creature who had never before thought to sleep before did so this deeply. Alas, what goodbyes were there to say to a man about to lose his memories? Soon, there would be no recollection of this night, nor their adventures in the days previous. To him, there would be no tangible thought of EMH Mark I, save for what is written in medical texts and manuals. Perhaps, it was better that way, that was what the doctor told himself. Still, he couldn't help but feel a pang of melancholy as he watched the other sleep so soundly as he stepped over the threshold, and out of EMH Mark II's memory banks forever. 

Back to Voyager. Back to isolation. Back home. 

**Author's Note:**

> There are moments when I wonder what is it that you leave behind with those you make love to?


End file.
